Aichi Sendou
Aichi Sendou is the main protagonist of Cardfight!! Vanguard. He is a somewhat shy and timid young man who wishes to be a Vanguard Fighter, but has never had the chance to have a real battle until his second encounter with Kai Toshiki. His first defeat was against the Oracle Think Tank user Misaki Tokura. When starting to play Vanguard, he believes more in himself, becoming a powerful Vanguard Fighter. Name According to KeroKero Ace September 2011, Aichi's surname is written with the kanji for vanguard (先導), the forward element in a military formation (and, of course, a reference to the title of the franchise). His forename primarily refers to the Aichi prefecture of Chubu, Japan. This follows a general trend in Vanguard of using historical names for characters. "Aichi" as a name originates from the third volume of the Man'yōshū, Japan's oldest collection of poetry, where it was referred to as Ayuchi, the Ayuchi-gata tidal flats. 'History' Not much information about Aichi's past has been revealed in the series so far, except that he met Toshiki Kai when he was younger and at that time he was always bullied by others. During the fateful encounter with Kai, who was still a friendly teenager, he gave him the card Blaster Blade, telling him to imagine himself big and strong, like the royal knight depicted on the card. Aichi couldn't picture himself any stronger at that moment, but the card gave him courage. He constructed a deck in the hopes of finding Kai and having a cardfight with him, but shortly after their encounter, Kai had apparently moved away. Aichi also lacks a father figure, for whatever reason, but lives with his mother and little sister, Emi. It is shown that Aichi isn't interested in school and his sister always woke him up, though this behavior disappears after he starts playing Cardfight!! Vanguard. Personality At first, he is a shy, taciturn and timid boy who doesn't stand out. He is always kind and nice to everyone. Later in the series, he appears to be more confident in himself and it resulted a boost on his Cardfight skills. After the Training Summer Camp, Aichi gains PSY Qualia, which manifests as him having a vision of that fight's result while his eyes glow. Like Ren, using this power normally gives Aichi strong headaches, and occasional fainting. Kai became worried that Aichi might be consumed by this power like Ren did. Aichi's power soon overcomes him as Kai predicted, and he begins to act very much like Ren Suzugamori; arrogant and obsessed with growing stronger, yet staying eerily polite throughout. Ren also gave him a Shadow Paladin deck, which appears to fuel his PSY Qualia, and changed the color of the lights during his Rides and Calls from blue to dark blue combined with black. However, Kai restores Aichi to his old self, showing that it is his Psyqualia that has grown stronger, and not Aichi himself. During Season 2, he displays more of his calm and determined personality while he was fighting with other fighters, even when he was in the brink of losing against Christopher Lo after the latter got PSY Qualia powers. He refuses to leave his friends in trouble if he can help them, even when the circumstances dictate that it is a waste of valuable time, as shown when he accepted Christopher's rematch to try and break him out of his Psyqualia-induced madness, even when Cray and Earth were in danger. In Season 3, it is shown that Aichi, outside of any Cardfight!! Vanguard-related event, is still quite unsure and nervous, but this side of him completely vanishes whenever he plays. Season 1 Biography Aichi is a student in Hitsue Middle School. He is introduced as a self-contained boy with low self-esteem, as seen when he is asked by his teacher to base an opinion, to which he gives an answer that makes him seem cowardly in appearance to the other students. When Kai introduced him to play Vanguard, he gained a lot of friends like Morikawa, Miwa and Izaki, and later his teammates that becomes his best friends - Kai Toshiki, Misaki Tokura and Kamui Katsuragi. When Q4 begins to play in the Regionals, he becomes friend with members of teams like Handsome, and when they forward to Nationals, he become friend with members of Team Caesar. However, as the series progresses, Aichi discovers PSY Qualia, an unusual power that allows him to hear the voices of his cards. Placing his trust in these voices, Aichi begins to rely on his own skill less and less in favour of PSY Qualia. Kai leaves Aichi, partially out of guilt over what happened to Ren, but not without coldly telling Aichi he has only gotten weaker. Confused over Kai's words, Aichi stumbles into Card Shop PSY, where he meets Ren again. Ren gives Aichi a Shadow Paladin deck and tells him that it will give him the strength he needs. Aichi uses this deck to utterly defeat Kourin. Later in the series, after Team Q4 qualify through the Preliminaries of their second National Championship, Kai fights Aichi, in order to try and prevent PSY Qualia from totally consuming him as it did Ren. When the fight is almost over, Aichi has a vision of Blaster Blade that tells him that he has a big strength that he's always had, and he doesn't need a perfect constructed deck to win. After recognizing Blaster Blade as his true Avatar, Aichi stops using his PSY Qualia, although his cards answered his call during his fight with Kenji Mitsusada. However, Ren noted that Aichi won without Psy Qualia, as did Kai. Later, Aichi goes to Foo Fighters' headquarters with Ultra-Rare to watch the fight between Kai and Ren, with the former losing. Ren noted that he received Phantom Blaster Overlord from Suiko in the process. After the battle, Aichi tries to comfort Kai, but Kai tells Aichi to get away from and storms off. Suiko then manifests two spheres of energy, one of darkness and the other of light, and says that Ren chose the path of darkness and now Aichi must choose his path, and presumably a new card. After the battle between Kai and Ren, Aichi and Q4 (minus Kai) return to the stadium for the finals of the National Tournament to fight Team Foo Fighter AL4. Aichi remains on the sidelines while Kamui fights Tetsu and Misaki fights Asaka. After these battles Aichi takes the field to battle Ren in the final match of the tournament. Throughout the match Ren tempts Aichi to use his Psyqualia ability but Aichi constantly refuses while Ren constantly uses Psyqualia to cause Aichi to feel the pain of each of Ren's attacks. Aichi eventually succumbs to the temptation after he calls Blaster Dark to his Rear Guard. Using Psyqualia's power, he then begins to unleash his full power on Ren, causing Ren to feel the attack from Aichi's units just as Ren had done to Aichi previously. From the stands, Kai shouts to Aichi not to fall back into Psyqualia's grasp and brings Aichi back to his senses once more. After Ren Crossrides Phantom Blaster Overlord, Aichi is backed into a corner when his guard is broken and Phantom Blaster Overlord's attack hits. After checking a Heal Trigger, Aichi proceeds to ride Majesty Lord Blaster and defeat Ren using its skill as well as removing the power of Psyqualia from Ren. After the match, Aichi and Team Q4 are crowned the National Champions. A few days after the tournament, Aichi runs to Card Capital to see his friends while saying that he can no longer use Psyqualia. As he enters Card Capital, all his friends are there waiting for him, including Kai who has been waiting to battle him. Aichi then proceeds to start a battle with Kai. Season 2 During season 2, he uses a Gold Paladin deck. Aichi is taking part in Asia Circuit and travels around Asia to fight different fighters, along with the rest of Team Q4. In episode 66, he fought Takuto Tatsunagi, who has a Gold Paladin deck. After the fight, he realizes his deck consisted of Gold Paladin units instead of Royal Paladins. Aichi is told that Shadow Paladin, Royal Paladin, and Kagero have been sealed away. Eventually, Aichi finds Kai, and discovers that his deck has changed too, although Kai is unaware of the change, unlike Aichi. Kai and Aichi then start a battle, in order to try and determine what really has happened. However, Aichi is unsure without his old deck to play with and is swiftly defeated by Kai's new ace, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, who demonstrates the new Limit Break ability. In episode 68, Aichi takes on Kamui, in order to try and convince him to come to the VF Circuit with him, and battles with his Gold Paladin deck, even using the Limit Break for the first time. Once Aichi and Q4 land in Singapore, they meet up with Kenji Mitsusada and Team Caesar by chance and then meet with a boy named Chris Falo and his teammates: Lee Shenlon and Pajeel Ali. After parting ways with Team Caeser and the young boys Aichi sees Takuto in a car driving away and proceedes to give chase. After being denied an audience with Takuto, he walks through town until Kourin finds him and proceeds to give him his new trump card, Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel. Aichi's quest to see Takuto again, however, is brought to a halt, when Takuto appears in the middle of Aichi's fight with Christopher Lo. Takuto grants both players the power of Psyqualia, which Christopher uses to defeat Aichi before he can begin to re-understand his new power. Although Q4 have also recieved invitations to participate in the circuit in other countries, Q4 are denied their finals victories by the newly re-formed Team AL4, now led by Kai, and Team Dreadnought, led by Leon Soryu, who entered the circuit in order to revive a legendary clan known as Aqua Force. Later on, Aichi realises that his lack of progress is due to his own hesitation regarding the correct use of Psyqualia, but he learns to overcome them after a match with Ultra-Rare. His new resolve results in the acceptance of a new ace card, Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel. With this card, Q4 are finally able to win the Japan leg of the VF Circuit. However, he and the other finalists are drawn to Cray via a portal connecting Cray to Earth, where he learns the VF Circuit's true purpose; Cray is in danger of a threat known as Void, and is responsible for the sealing of the clans who united the others. The whole tournament was held in order to find chosen cardfighters who could save Cray from Void. Leon Soryu, however, reveals that he made a deal with Void in order to revive the Aqua Force in exchange for eliminated all threats to Void. With his wildly-evolved PSY Qualia and mastery of the powers that Void handed to him, Soryu betrays Tatsunagi, draining him of his own powers and leaving the boy for dead. He then seperates each team who made the finals, and Aichi is forced to look for Leon and stop him. While searching, he finds the spirit of his lost Avatar, Blaster Blade, and it manifests in the form of a beam of light, pointing towards Leon, and a Blaster Blade Spirit. Q4 then bump into Team S.I.T Genius, where Aichi discovers that Christopher Lo has been completely consumed by Psyqualia. Seeing himself in Christopher, Aichi decides to try and snap him out of it, as Kai did for him. Aichi succeeds in winning the fight, banishing Team S.I.T Genius from Cray, as only the winners can remain. However, this fight delays Aichi, and he is too late to stop Leon from defeating Kai and banishing Team new AL4 from the space as well. Aichi fights Leon to avenge Kai and stop Leon's plot. After a hard-fought fight, which results in the return of his Avatar and the Crossride of Platina Ezel, Aichi narrowly escapes defeat and succeeds in saving Cray. Afterwards, when he re-discovers the Royal Paladins, Aichi realises that he has forged a bond with his Gold Paladin allies and cannot bear the thought of simply abandoning them. Understanding his feelings, Blaster Blade, as well as the other Royal Paladins he fought with, manifest in the form of new Gold Paladins. Aichi then makes the true finals of the VF Circuit, where he officially defeats Christopher Lo, ending in Q4 becoming the champions of the tournament. Season 3 Aichi re-enrolls in Miyaji Academy with Misaki. However, when he settles into his old school agin, it becomes apparent that his hobby has little place in a school where the primary concern is college. At the end of school, he goes to Card Capital and a regular student, Naoki Ishida, follows him. Aichi teaches him how to play Vanguard, and introduces his new deck. Although Aichi wins, he notices that Naoki bought a Trial Deck, which means he is now interested in Vanguard. He then decides to keep an eye on him. He tries to start a Cardfight Club at his school, but many people only wanted to join because Kourin was a member, so it resulted in there only being three Members so far, being Naoki Ishida, Kourin Tatsunagi, and Aichi. In addition, the student council, who disaproves the formation of such a club, frequently spred rumors and a bounty on the Cardfight Club to dismantle them. Eventually they add Shingo Komoi and Misaki Tokura competing the Cardfight Club but was not approved as they also do not have a teacher to advise them. As an alternative, The Student Council President challenges them to face Hisui High's Cardfight Club rewarding them with aproval and an advisor should they win. By the time Aichi fights, the results are tied up leaving it up to Aichi to save the Cardfight Club. He faces off against Morikawa whose deck was switched out in favor of Kai's Kagero deck which utilized Dragonic Overlord The End and the Kagero's new Break Ride as a way for Kai to test him. Aichi manages to break through impressing even Kai with how strong he has become. This victory establishes the Cardfight Club within Miyaji Academy as Aichi is named President and Captain of the club. Deck Season 1 Royal Paladin At the beginning of the series, Aichi is revealed to possess a Royal Paladin deck, based mostly on human knights and their dog companions. It is revealed that this deck is not quite strong, as it lacks Grade 3 Units, and it is rather all over the place. Aichi comes to rely on a combination of Blaster Blade and Wingal to pull through his first few fights, but Tokura Misaki stops his winning streak. Aichi manages to upgrade his deck with the introduction of the Grade 3 unit, Solitary Knight, Gancelot, which he tries to use unsuccessfully to defeat Katsuragi Kamui and Kourin. Finally, he receives King of Knights, Alfred from Suiko, which, especially when combined with Barcgal, becomes his major ace for a large part of the series, and leads him to the semi-finals of the shop tournament. In preparation for the regionals Aichi upgrades his deck with units from the new booster pack, namely Knight of Truth, Gordon, Gigantech Charger and more importantly Soul Saver Dragon. He uses this Units masterfully despite not having tested them, an early hint that he possesses some sort of supernatural power when Soul Savior Dragon answers his need during the regional finals against Gouki. Blaster Blade still remains a prominent Unit in his deck, even though he begins focusing on Soul Saver Dragon. After Q4's defeat at the nationals, Aichi goes to a training camp with Team Caesar, where he fights against Yuri Usui. Deck]]He is completely defeated, and Yuri advises him to restructure his deck. With a little help from the manager, and the spirits of the Royal Paladin cards, he creates a powerful deck based around Soul Saver Dragon, High Dog Breeder, Akane and Pongal. However, at the same time, the PSY Qualia begin advancing, and he starts trusting the voice of his cards over his own ability. Therefore, he uses that deck in the next shop and regional tournament, winning all of his matches, even against former AL4 member Kyou Yahagi, with apparent ease. Kai still refuses to acknowledge him, though, since he knows that the power of the PSY Qualia is not Aichi's own power. After the fight between Kai and Aichi, in which Aichi gave up after hearing Blaster Blade's words, he starts to play with his Royal Paladin Deck again. In his final confrontation with Ren, Aichi adjusts his deck so that Blaster Dark is mixed in with his Royal Paladins so that he could use Majesty Lord Blaster's abilities to the fullest. Shadow Paladin Seeking more power, Aichi visits the card shop PSY, where he is confronted by Suzugamori Ren. Ren gives him the Shadow Paladin deck, which completely corrupts him and causes him to abandon his Royal Paladins in favor of the new clan. His first match using this deck is against Kourin - he displays a great mastery in using it thanks to the power of the PSY Qualia, and delivers a crippling defeat to Kourin via Phantom Blaster Dragon's Corrupted Charging Lance. His new ace becomes Blaster Dark, and his Deck is focused on sacrificing his own units for power, more specifically at the hands of Phantom Blaster Dragon. This is totally unlike him, a fact noticed by most characters. Aichi's original Royal Paladin Deck was themed around the color blue, to contrast Kai's mostly red-based units. His Shadow Paladin Deck ranges from dark blue, to dark grey, to black. The color of his PSY Qualia has also shifted to a much darker hue. After he acquired the Shadow Paladin deck, he abandoned his old deck at card shop PSY. Kourin retrieved it, and presumably gave it to Kai later. Season 2 Gold Paladin In the Asia Circuit Hen, Aichi is forcefully given a Gold Paladin deck to use instead of his Royal Paladins. Initially, his Deck's ace card is Great Silver Wolf, Garmore, but after receiving Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel from Kourin, he redesigns his deck to incorporate it into his strategies. This deck is similar in strategy to his old Royal Paladin Deck, but it focuses more on calling units from the deck than his previous one. After going to the Vacation Island, Aichi reconstructs his Deck after realizing that he isn't facing the Gold Paladins right. Ezel is still an important part in his deck, but Aichi now puts in more effort to superior calling units from the deck, using the Blade Feather Valkyrie / Flash Edge Valkyrie combination, as well as Nimue and Viviane, and units that can activate their skills upon being called from the Deck, such as Lop Ear Shooter. For this reason, he changes his starting vanguard to Spring Breeze Messenger, in order to keep his combos going. He also includes White Hare in the Moon's Shadow, Pellinore as a second ace. He later adds Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel as his signature Crossride unit after receiving it from PSY Shop. Season 3 Deck]] Aichi has decided to use the Gold Paladin as his main deck. His deck consists of the Liberators cards which were originally Royal Paladin units such as Little Liberator, Marron, Future Liberator, Llew and Liberator of Silence, Gallatin along with his ace being his reborn avatar- Blaster Blade Liberator. Battles Gallery 75435.jpg|Younger Aichi Aichi Sendou.jpg Aichi Sendou Psyqulia.jpg|Aichi performing his PSY Qualia power. Aichifont.jpg|Aichi and his Avatar Blaster Blade. Aichiseason2.png|Aichi in Season 2. Cardfightvanguardghngb.jpg|Aichi versus Kai Toshiki. Cardfightvanguardsdsd.jpg|Aichi planning his next move. Char aichi02.jpg Ppps.jpg|Aichi`s two personalities, Light & Dark. Sendou Aichi - Majesty Lord Blaster.jpg|Aichi's ace, the true vanguard, Majesty Lord Blaster. M259lmEFzt1rnbis5o1 500.jpg|Aichi teaching Takuto about Vanguard. M257kjzKLd1r9t4sfo1 500.jpg 4d60a922.jpg 1358508701-1aichi.jpg|Aichi Sendou in Cardfight!! Vanguard Season 3: Link Joker Arc. External Links Aichi's Character Song Yuuki no Image Egao no Mirai Preview Yakusoku no Crossroad Preview Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Protagonists Category:Royal Paladin Deck Users Category:Shadow Paladin Deck Users Category:Gold Paladin Deck Users Category:Season 1 Characters Category:Season 2 Characters Category:Character who possessed Psyqualia Category:Season 3 Characters